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Obama to host China's Hu Jintao in January

The third official state visit of President Obama's presidency will take place Jan. 19 when Chinese President Hu Jintao comes to Washington.

The White House announced the date Wednesday, following up on the invitation Obama extended to his Chinese counterpart in June at the G20 summit in Toronto.

Hu's visit comes two months after Obama's four-nation trip to Asia -- a trip that included India, Indonesia, South Korea and Japan, but not China.

Lest the Chinese be offended, Hu's visit follows similar honors bestowed on only two other world leaders during Obama administration: India's Manmohan Singh in November 2009, and Mexico's Felipe Calderon in May of this year.

Singh's visit, Oval readers will recall, was when a Virginia couple, Michaele and Tareq Salahi, crashed the party and stole much of the attention.

And Calderon's visit was marked by his criticism of Arizona's law allowing police to stop people believed to be illegal immigrants and demand identification.

There's plenty of potential controversy for Hu's visit: China's monetary policies and North Korean aggression are but two of the topics sure to arise.

"President Hu's visit will highlight the importance of expanding cooperation between the United States and China on bilateral, regional and global issues, as well as the friendship between the peoples of our two countries," the White House announcement said.

"The president looks forward to welcoming President Hu to Washington to continue building a partnership that advances our common interests and addresses our shared concerns."